I finally got my camera back yesterday (more on that here) but far too late for the final days of Me Made June. So here are some recycled photos. Of course, I could just be lying and have dumped the challenge half way through, and you would never know, would you? Ah, the magic of the internet. But I didn’t do that, I wore my self-made treasures and travesties with joy. They are the following:

June 28th, 2011:

The First Time For Everything Blouse! I love this blouse. I just remade it in white with a keyhole neckline, and in peach dubroni silk, for my mamala. More on that to come!

June 29, 2011:

The Define Basics Blouse. I wear this blouse less then I thought I would. I do love it, but my natural propensity to stain white makes me afraid of it. I fear my clothing, people, it’s quite sad.

June 30, 2011:

The Happy Trails By Two Friends Shirt. Man. I love this shirt. I wear it all the time. Something about the tiny cowboys just makes me happier.

And there you have it. A month of outfits scored and seasoned by my own two hands. And as hard as it was to keep it together and not forget in the cruel light of dawn (i.e. 8:30 in the morning) that it can’t just be a t-shirt and skirt day, I have to throw in something I actually constructed or risk losing face to the whole world. i.e. the three people actually paying attention. But honestly, I actually really enjoyed participating in this event, and I think it’s kind of amazing, when I survey the bloggosphere, how many other people I saw doing the same thing. Karen did an amazing job taking photos with strangers day after day, Tilly made everything look unaccountably awesome, Wendy couldn’t have been cuter, and that’s just the blogs I check regularly. I stumbled across all kinds of sewers and crafters and a huge amount of knitters (jesus, those ladies can throw DOWN with a sweater, I swear) who had amazing photos of amazing outfits they’ve created and now wear with pride.

I got to know more about how I’ve grown as a sewer, and learned, to my shock, that in the year I’ve been sewing, I have actually improved! I know, it’s crazy talk. I don’t know why I was so surprised, but when I look at things I made when I first started sewing versus things I made last month, the difference is astounding. I just didn’t know about things like “seam finishing” and “bias” and “pinking” and “bound buttonholes” and a 100 other things I’ve learned through the help of other sewers out there. Given that I started sewing on the fly through a brief course and have been flying solo ever since, it’s nice to know that I’ve been able to learn so much purely through following instructions and judicious use of google. So thank you, Zo, for doing this amazing thing and inspiring people, month after month, to make good use of their home-sewn wardrobes and force all their friends to compliment them day after day on being so crafty. Oh, that wasn’t the intention? Too bad, it’s what I did.

I also learned about the holes in my sewing. For example, I seem to love making blouses and hate making bottoms. I’ve made a fair amount of dresses, mostly with full skirts, but I need to add more variety to my sewing table, more kinds of things and fewer of the same pattern over and over again. That being said, I will probably ignore that completely and just keep making one blouse pattern over and over again until my fingers bleed. I’m just that kind of a girl.

Did you learn anything this month? Did you participate? Did you have fun? Or did you tear your homemade waredrobe to shreds and move into H and M? All answers are welcome.

Now that my camera has returned to me I have five, count em, five new pieces of clothing I made in the interim that I will be photographing this weekend when I’m in Puerto Rico for my birthday (YAY!) and then sharing with you. If you would like to GET me something for my birthday you can kickstart my Philadelphia Fringe Show by giving money here. More on that later.

You took amazing photos! I’m uber jealous, just green, really. The bow one is the Burda Style Ute blouse which I love. It eats up fabric but it fits well and is lovely. The ONE thing I would change is the fact that it’s quilter’s cotton, so the bow is a bit stiff. I might make a sleeveless version in voile, see how that goes….I adore your new dress, by the way!